Department for Transport

Railways: South East

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to (a) reduce times, (b) increase capacity and (c) increase the reliability of rail journeys between Eastbourne and (i) Gatwick Airport, (ii) Brighton and (iii) London; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: A significant and wide ranging time table change will be implemented on the Brighton Main Line in December 2015. This is intended to improve service reliability and resilience for customers across Sussex, including Eastbourne customers travelling to/ from Gatwick and London. There are likely to be secondary benefits for the Coast Way East service between Brighton and Eastbourne.As part of the £6.5bn Thameslink programme, the Government is making investments to improve the reliability and capacity of the Brighton Main Line. In the medium to longer term, a range of major infrastructure upgrades have been proposed by the rail industry to further improve reliability of the Brighton Main Line. These proposals are currently undergoing detailed development, with a view to Ministers considering the case for their implementation in the next 5 year railway funding period, which starts in 2019. Again, these upgrades would benefit customers across Sussex, including those in Eastbourne.

Network Rail: Performance Standards

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many performance indicators the Office of Road and Rail uses to assess the performance of Network Rail.

Claire Perry: The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) have advised that in the current five yearly regulatory cycle (Control Period 5) that started on 1st April 2014, they established 13 categories of regulated outputs,some of which are disaggregated further, such as by franchised train operator route or by delivery milestones.These outputs include train service reliability, enhancements, health and safety, network availability, network capability, stations, depots, asset management and environment.There are 25 categories of core indicators from these outputs, which are disaggregated further. Full details of the regulated outputs can be found on table 3.11, page 125 of the Final Determination for Control Period 5, a copy of which is attached.



Table 3.11
(Word Document, 32.43 KB)

Driving: Licensing

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the time the DVLA takes to process reapplications for a driving license after a suspension of that license for medical reasons.

Andrew Jones: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency does not hold specific information about the processing times for driving licence applications, which were submitted following the revocation of a licence for medical reasons.The DVLA aims to complete 90% of all cases that require further medical investigations within 90 working days and is working hard to identify ways of improving the time taken to deal with these cases. Additional caseworkers and medical advisers have been employed and new processes introduced to speed up the time it takes to receive the necessary information. Longer term, the DVLA is considering digital solutions to improve the service it provides in this area.

Home Office

Members: Surveillance

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Wilson Doctrine has been consistently applied to the parliamentary communications of the hon. Member for South Shields; and whether that hon. Member has been subject to surveillance.

Mr John Hayes: Holding answer received on 21 October 2015



The Government’s position on the Wilson Doctrine was set out by the Prime Minister in a written ministerial statement made on 4 November 2015.As the Prime Minister made clear, the Wilson Doctrine has never been an absolute bar to the targeted interception of the communications of Members of Parliament or an exemption from the legal regime governing interception. The Doctrine recognised that there could be instances where interception might be necessary.The Prime Minister announced that as matter of policy the PM will be consulted should there ever be a proposal to target any UK Parliamentarian’s communications under a warrant issued by a Secretary of State. This applies to Members of Parliament, members of the House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly and UK members of the European Parliament. It applies to all activity authorised by a warrant issued by a Secretary of State: any instance of targeted interception and, electronic surveillance and equipment interference, when undertaken by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. This is in addition to the rigorous safeguards already in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and the Code of Practice issued under it which set out a series of robust safeguards for any instance of interception.It is long standing policy of successive Governments neither to confirm nor deny any specific activity by the Security and Intelligence Agencies. Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 it is an offence for anyone to identify an individual interception warrant or an individual interception that takes place.

Interception Warrants

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for warrants for electronic surveillance she rejected last year.

Mr John Hayes: Statistics on warrants relating to the interception of communications are published in the Interception of Communications Commissioner’s annual reports, which can be found at: http://www.iocco-uk.info/Statistics on warrants relating to intrusive surveillance and interference with property or wireless telegraphy by the Intelligence Services are published in the Intelligence Services Commissioner’s annual reports, which can be found at: http://intelligencecommissioner.comGiven the sensitivities of warrants, the oversight commissioners and successive governments have not provided more detailed breakdowns of statistics, including on the number of rejected warrant applications.

Health Professions: Visas

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the effect of the changing criteria for the Adult Dependent Relative Visa on recruitment and retention of health professionals.

James Brokenshire: The Government reformed the Immigration Rules for adult dependent relatives in July 2012 in light of the significant NHS and social care costs which can be associated with these cases. The new rules seek to ensure that only those who have a genuine need to be physically close to and cared for by a close relative in the UK are able to settle here. Those who do not have such care needs can be supported financially in the country in which they live by their relative in the UK. We have kept the family Immigration Rules under regular review in light of any evidence received as to their impact and will continue to do so.

Home Office: Families

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to implement the family test.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of her Department's policies have been assessed against the family test; what steps she has taken to publish the outcome of such assessments; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014. The DWP published guidance for Departments and officials on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and my Department follows that guidance.The guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368894/family-test-guidance.pdfThe Family Test is also being integrated within the Department’s impact assessment process to ensure it is consistently addressed. Recognising that all Government policies will impact on families in some way, the Government’s guidance on the Family Test is clear that policies should pass a threshold of proportionality before the Family Test is applied in full. New Home Office policies in the current Parliament have not met the threshold for applying the Family Test. The Family Test, when applied, will be published as part of the relevant impact assessment.

Overseas Students: English Language

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the reduction in the number of English language testing centres on the number of international students entering the UK; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: English language ability is a key strand of the immigration requirements for many of those coming as partners and to work, study and settle in the UK. Significant abuse within the English language testing sector was uncovered in 2013/2014, following which the Home Office commissioned an independent review. A key outcome was the need to develop new and robust business and commercial requirements for Secure English Language Testing (SELT). The Home Office has rightly responded to that abuse robustly, particularly considering that thousands of people sought to use evidence that was obtained fraudulently to enter and remain in the UK. The new, strengthened arrangements for SELT came into effect on 6th April 2015.One of the security changes introduced was the reduction of the test centre network to mitigate the risks of oversupply and enable the Home Office to achieve greater control and ability to audit centres.Whilst the Home Office has reduced the number of test centres, it has increased the number of countries where students could sit tests. Before the 6th April students could sit tests in 79 countries (excluding the UK), they can now sit tests in 129 countries.The Home Office has planned the reduced test centre network to meet anticipated demand and test centres in each country are currently meeting demand.We continue to have a highly competitive offer for international students who would like to study at our world-class institutions and this is borne out by the figures: visa applications from international students to study at British universities are up by 17 per cent since 2010, whilst visa applications to our world-leading Russell Group institutions are up by 33 per cent since 2010.

Home Office: Families

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to implement the family test; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014. The Department for Work and Pensions published guidance for Departments and officials on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and the Home Office follows that guidance. The guidance can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368894/family-test-guidance.pdfThe Family Test is also being integrated within the Department’s impact assessment process to ensure it is addressed consistently.

Independent Police Complaints Commission

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she expects to respond to the IPCC's proposals on governance reform as set out in its Annual Report and statement of accounts 2014-15, HC 286.

Mike Penning: In August, the Home Secretary commissioned Sheila Drew Smith OBE of the Committee on Standards in Public Life to undertake an independent review of the governance proposals first set out in the IPCC’s response to the Home Office’s Triennial Report, which was published by the IPCC on 12 August 2015. The independent review will assess the fitness for purpose of the IPCC’s proposals, and will report to the Home Secretary before Christmas. After the conclusions of the independent review have been considered, the Government will announce the next steps.

Asylum

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with Amnesty International and the Committee Against Torture on recent and proposed changes to the legislation on asylum seekers.

James Brokenshire: No legislation is planned in respect to asylum seekers.A number of changes to arrangements for supporting failed asylum seekers have been included in the Immigration Bill published on 17 September.Amnesty International sent a written response to the consultation on the proposals contained in the Immigration Bill and some of its representatives have met Home Office officials to discuss the proposals. The Committee Against Torture did not respond to the consultation and there have been no discussions on the proposals.

Drugs: Publicity

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding her Department has allocated to work on the strategic communications plan for making (a) young and (b) other people aware of the blanket ban on legal highs proposed in the Psychoactive Substances Bill.

Mike Penning: A strategic communications plan to make people aware of the intended blanket ban on psychoactive substances is currently being developed. We are working with key partners and agencies such as Pubic Health England to develop a comprehensive plan that will explain the legislative changes and consequences to sellers, young people and other users and signpost support and advice. A budget has not yet been allocated for this work.

Royal British Legion: Police

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many official Royal British Legion Remembrance events have received logistical police support other than wreath laying in a ceremonial capacity in each year since 2010.

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy that police officers be assigned to support all Royal British Legion Remembrance parades.

Mike Penning: The Home Office does not hold the information requested. The police have never had a policy of routinely attending remembrance parades. Decisions on the operational deployment of resources are matters for Chief Constables, in association with Police and Crime Commissioners. There are no plans for the Home Office to issue guidance to the police on this matter.

Bangladesh: Entry Clearances

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessments her Department has made of the effect of the relocation of the Visa and Entry Clearance Office from Dakha to New Delhi on people from Bangladesh applying for a visa to enter the UK.

James Brokenshire: An internal assessment of the potential impact of transferring decision making on UK visa applications from Dhaka to New Delhi was completed in early 2014. This assessment covered all key aspects of the move, including security, decision quality and customer service.There has been, and will be, no change to the customer experience when applying for a visa in Bangladesh. Customers are still able to apply in the same Visa Application Centres (Dhaka and Sylhet) and applications are decided within the same global customer service standards (15 working days for non-settlement or 60 days for settlement).

Bangladesh: Entry Clearances

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons the Government's Visa and Entry Clearance Office in Dakha, Bangladesh is being relocated to New Delhi, India.

James Brokenshire: Decision making on UK visa applications lodged in Bangladesh was moved from Dhaka to New Delhi in September 2014. Logistical changes like this are made for operational reasons and to refine the longstanding hub and spoke structure of the visa network, where applications are decided at regional decision making centres. UKVI retains a small team in the British High Commission, Dhaka to carry out local checks and the remote printing of some visas. There has been, and will be, no change to the customer experience when applying for a visa in Bangladesh. Customers are still able to apply in the same Visa Application Centres (Dhaka and Sylhet) and applications are decided within the same global customer service standards (15 working days for non-settlement or 60 days for settlement).

Electronic Surveillance

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the most recent national security direction under section 94 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 was made; and what the number of UK citizens was from whom data was collected under that direction.

Mr John Hayes: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Interception Warrants

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times action has been taken against a service provider for non-compliance with a warrant served under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 since 2001.

Mr John Hayes: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Electronic Surveillance

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has provided the Intelligence and Security Committee with copies of any national security directions made under section 94 of the Telecommunications Act 1984.

Mr John Hayes: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Electronic Surveillance

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government has paid out any financial compensation on national security directions made under sections 94 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 in the last 30 years.

Mr John Hayes: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

National Wildlife Crime Unit: Finance

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to renew funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit after March 2016.

Mike Penning: Decisions on future funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit will be made as part of the current Spending Review process.

Asylum: Gloucestershire

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse of provision of (a) accommodation and (b) support services for asylum seekers was in Gloucestershire in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not record the cost to the public purse of provision of (a) accommodation and (b) support services for asylum seekers within individual counties.

Crime: Gambling

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of crimes committed by people with gambling problems.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has made no specific assessment of the number of crimes committed by people with gambling problems.The most recent crime statistics published by the Office for National Statistics showed that overall crime fell by 8% in the year to June 2015, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales. Crime has now fallen by more than a quarter since June 2010, with just over 2.9 million fewer crimes a year.It is for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners to decide crime priorities at a local level, and the most appropriate response in their areas.

National Crime Agency

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many suspicious activity reports relating to (a) the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and (b) the Terrorism Act 2000 have been submitted to the National Crime Agency in the last financial year.

Mike Penning: Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) are submitted to the National Crime Agency under two pieces of legislation: the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 for suspicions of money laundering, or the Terrorism Act 2000 for suspicions of terrorist financing.The National Crime Agency publishes annual SARs statistics. The reporting period for these publications is from October to September. The figures requested fall across this reporting period. Data for April 2014 to September 2014 can be obtained from the 2013-2014 SARs Annual Report, which is available on the NCA website: http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/464-2014-sars-annual-report. Data for October 2014 to March 2015 will be available in the 2014-2015 SARs Annual Report, which is due to be published shortly.

Human Trafficking: Criminal Investigation

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many investigations have been commenced by the National Crime Agency into human trafficking, in each of the last three years.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Offences against Children: Internet

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of online child abuse were referred from the National Crime Agency to individual police forces in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Taxis: Arrests

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many private hire vehicle drivers have been arrested in (a) London and (b) the UK for offences related to plying for hire in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning: The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of private hire vehicle drivers arrested.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Stationery

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the value of stationery that has been (a) lost and (b) stolen from his Department in each of the last five fiscal years; and what the cost was of replacing such stationery.

Mr David Lidington: The information requested is not held centrally and to provide this response would incur disproportionate cost.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Public Expenditure

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department spent on (a) temporary agency staff, (b) consultants, (c) non-payroll staff, (d) administration and (e) marketing and advertising in real terms in each year since 2010-11.

Mr Philip Hammond: Holding answer received on 16 November 2015



This information is published in the Annual Report and Accounts, and on the FCO’s website under Publications: transparency data.

Counter-terrorism

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his Department's counter-extremism budget was for (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15; and how much has been budgeted for (i) 2015-16 and (ii) future financial years.

Mr Philip Hammond: Holding answer received on 16 November 2015



Counter-extremism is an integral part of the FCO’s counter-terrorism work. It is also a core element of activities funded through the cross-Whitehall Conflict Security and Stabilisation Fund. Disaggregating FCO-specific spend on counter-extremism activities from wider counter-terrorism work would incur disproportionate cost.Future counter-terrorism and counter-extremism spending is subject to the outcome of the Spending Review and SDSR.

Syria: Military Intervention

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of Russian airstrikes on (a) ISIL/Daesh targets on (b) non-ISIL/Daesh targets in Syria to date.

Mr Philip Hammond: Holding answer received on 16 November 2015



The vast majority of Russian air strikes have been against Syrian opposition forces, not the terrorist organisation ISIL. Despite Russian government claims to the contrary, only a small minority of strikes have targeted locations where ISIL forces are present. Overwhelmingly, Russian air strikes have targeted Homs, Hama, Idlib, Latakia and Aleppo - areas where moderate opposition are concentrated. A map of Russian strikes is available on Twitter - @UKAgainstISIL. This is on the basis of reporting from international NGOs and actors on the ground.

China: Animal Welfare

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what work his Department is undertaking with authorities in China to support the welfare of animals.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Government takes all reports of animal cruelty throughout the world seriously, and is committed to raising standards of animal welfare at home and abroad. We are at the forefront of international efforts to protect animals, both domestic and wild, and continue to work with governments around the world, including China, to gain agreement to animal welfare standards and to phase out cruel and inhumane farming and trapping practices.We also work with the European Commission through the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to promote the welfare of a range of species internationally, including stray dogs and farmed animals. China, as a member of OIE, is committed to delivering the required standards.Tackling the illegal wildlife trade has been a particular focus of our discussions with China. In a joint statement issued during last month’s Chinese State Visit, the UK and China recognised the importance and urgency of combating the illegal wildlife trade and committed to take active measures to tackle this global challenge. This built on previous commitments by China to tackle the issue, including agreement to join HRH The Duke of Cambridge’s International Taskforce on Transportation and Illegal Wildlife Trade, and plans to phase out the domestic commercial trade in ivory.

Asia: Dogs

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with his counterparts in (a) China, (b) Vietnam and (c) South Korea about the dog meat trade in those countries.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Government is committed to raising the standards of animal welfare at home and abroad. Whilst there are no international norms, laws or agreements governing the trade and consumption of dog meat, we believe it is necessary to work with governments to gain agreement on animal welfare standards and phase out cruel and inhuman farming practices.I raised the importance of animal welfare with the Vietnamese government during my visit in February. Our Ambassador in Seoul has raised the issue of cruelty related to the dog meat trade with the South Korean authorities, explaining that UK Parliamentarians and the public would like to see regulation that would bring this to an end. Ministers have also raised the issue with Chinese counterparts, and we continue to work alongside the authorities there to help protect the welfare of stray animals.I will be writing to all relevant Ambassadors about this issue in due course and the Government will consider a review of how we interact with various international organisations on dog meat consumption, specifically on the issue of health.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Motor Vehicles: Sales

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will hold discussions with motor trade associations on steps to ban the sale of devices that are used to illegally reduce car mileages on vehicles for resale.

Nick Boles: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has no plans to hold such a meeting.It is illegal to reduce the mileage on a car and advertise or sell it on that basis. This is the case regardless of the availability of devices that can reduce vehicle mileage. For advice on alleged offences of misleading advertising or fraud, consumers should approach Action Fraud or Citizens Advice, who may refer cases to Trading Standards.

Aviation: Working Hours

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on the application of working time regulations to aircraft maintenance engineers.

Nick Boles: All workers subject to the Working Time Regulations, including aircraft maintenance engineers, are entitled to a number of protections. These include entitlement to annual leave and rest breaks, a limit on weekly working hours, and restrictions on night work.

Pay

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the likely change in the pay gap between workers under and over 25 and those older than 25 over the course of the 2015 Parliament.

Nick Boles: The National Minimum Wage rate structure provides different rates according to age and the National Living Wage will apply to those aged 25 and over. The Low Pay Commission will continue to monitor, evaluate and review pay conditions for younger workers when it makes recommendations for future changes to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage.

Higher Education: Freedom of Information

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Cabinet Office on proposals in the Higher Education White Paper on removing HEFCE-funded providers from the scope of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Joseph Johnson: The content of the Higher Education Green Paper ‘Fulfilling Our Potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice’ was discussed across Government. Our overall aim is to see a level playing field between higher education providers and, where possible to reduce burdens and deregulate. The Green Paper also makes clear that there may be a case for an exception to this general approach if it is in the interests of students or the wider public. We recognise the importance of the Freedom of Information Act and welcome views on its application to the higher education sector as part of the consultation on the Green Paper.

Adult Education: Mental Illness

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits of adult education courses for people with mental health problems.

Nick Boles: There is evidence that adult education courses can have positive benefits for people with mental health problems:A 2012 LSE study[1] reported health and wellbeing benefits associated with adult learning, with reductions in self-reported depression, improvements in life satisfaction, enhanced perceptions of self-worth, improvements in self-reported overall health and increased desire to find a better job.An Institute of Education study[2] found that interest-related learning had the effect of increasing women’s life satisfaction and decreasing female depression, as well as having a positive effect on self-efficacy.In 2010, Northamptonshire County Council Adult Learning Service and the local Teaching Primary Care Trust developed community adult education courses for people with mild to moderate depression and anxiety. The project was evaluated over a three year period by the Mental Health Foundation (MHF)[3]. The evaluation found that the adult education courses offered a simple, low-cost way of helping to reduce the symptoms of mild to moderate depression and anxiety.To test this evidence more rigorously, the 2014 Autumn Statement announced new funding to pilot adult education courses targeted at adults with mild to moderate mental health problems. Adult education providers are developing courses in partnership with local mental health organisations. The project is being advised by a cross-government steering group which includes senior officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Department of Health, Public Health England, NHS England and the Department for Work and Pensions.A consortium led by Ipsos-MORI is undertaking an external evaluation and gathering anonymised evidence about participants’ progress in relation to anxiety, depression and wellbeing. Pilots are using the same standardised and validated assessment scores as used by the NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme. For more information, including a map of the projects, go to: http://mhfe.org.uk/clmh-pilots/.[1] Review and update of research into the wider benefits of adult learning (LSE) 2012[2] The relationship between adult learning and wellbeing: Evidence from the 1958 National Child Development Study (Institute of Education), 2012[3] Robotham : Learning for Life: adult learning, mental health and wellbeing (Mental Health Foundation), 2011

Overseas Students

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the contribution international students studying in the UK make to British soft power overseas; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The presence of international students in the UK, and UK students going overseas, helps build relationships and understanding which have life-long effects. There is no limit on the number of bona fide overseas students able to study in the UK, and the UK is the second most popular destination for international students after the USA.The wider benefit to the UK of international students was considered in a Department for Business, Innovation and Skills research paper which highlighted the value of alumni becoming informal ambassadors for the UK, with the benefits increasing as they become more influential in their home country. Research by the British Council suggests that the average level of trust in the UK is 16% higher amongst those who had participated in cultural relations activities such as education.

Students: Loans

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the proportion of student loan outlay that will never be repaid by graduates (a) undertaking full-time higher education and (b) undertaking part-time higher education.

Joseph Johnson: Our estimate of the proportion of the value of English full time and part time loans which will not be repaid can be found in the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes South on 10 November 2015 to Question UIN 14357.

Overseas Trade: Commonwealth

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to improve trade relations with Commonwealth countries.

Anna Soubry: Her Majesty’s Government is represented across the Commonwealth and, as one of its priorities, is committed to helping UK business succeed overseas. UK Trade and Investment itself is represented in around half of all Commonwealth countries. There is therefore a range of services that business can benefit from, dependent on the scale of the opportunities in each country.A strong Commonwealth, with enhanced economic prospects for all Commonwealth members, is good for UK business. My noble Friend the Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Lord Maude of Horsham, said in a debate in the other place on 11 November, “We underestimate the strength of the Commonwealth as a network for business.” My noble Friend is scheduled to attend the forthcoming Commonwealth Business Forum at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. This will provide an opportunity to discuss how to develop further our trade relationship with Commonwealth markets.

EU Trade

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average (a) export and (b) import tariffs paid by the UK to countries with whom the EU has a Free Trade Agreement was in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: Estimating the average tariffs on UK exports and imports to and from all the countries with which the EU has free trade agreements in each of the last five years would involve a disproportionate cost.

Department for International Development

International Foundation for Electoral Systems

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding the UK has allocated to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems over the last five years; and how much such funding was allocated to that body for the purpose of overseeing elections in Burma.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Over the last five years DFID has allocated around £9 million to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). DFID has provided £2.7 million for IFES to provide technical support to the Union Election Commission in Burma. It has supported the UEC to train polling station staff and to develop procedures for the accreditation of nationwide international and domestic observation for the first time in Burma’s history.

Burma: Elections

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what effect the outcome of the elections in Burma in November 2015 will have on her Department's funding to projects in that country.

Mr Desmond Swayne: I congratulate the people of Burma on their historic elections which are an important step towards greater democracy. DFID is currently reviewing our approach for all country programmes for the next five years as part of the government’s overall spending review.

Burma: Politics and Government

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what projects her Department (a) has and (b) is planning to facilitate transition in Burma from dictatorship to democracy.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID’s bilateral commitment to Burma between 2011/12 and 2015/16 is around £285 million. DFID has allocated £25 million over five years to strengthen democratic governance in Burma, including support to the elections, through our Programme for Democratic Change. DFID is currently reviewing our approach for all country programmes for the next five years as part of the government’s overall spending review and any decisions about future support will be made in due course.

Department for International Development: Families

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to implement the family test.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many of her Department's policies have been assessed against the family test; what steps she has taken to publish the outcome of such assessments; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The Family Test policy does not apply to DFID’s work as foreign policy is outside of the scope of the Test.

World Food Programme

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make representations requesting reforms of the management and administration of the World Food Programme to improve its effectiveness and efficiency.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID continually works to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the World Food Programme (WFP). As an active donor and Executive Board member, DFID champions value for money and pursues increased efficiency and effectiveness in all areas including organisational reform, financial procedures and programme activities. DFID is also currently assessing WFP in its Multilateral Aid Review (MAR) 2015 and will use the MAR findings to take forward continued reform with WFP.Examples where DFID has pursued reform of management and administration of the WFP include the six-monthly Commercial Expertise Reviews which DFID conducts to assess procurement functions and make recommendations for increased efficiency. Another example is DFID support to the expanded forward purchasing facilities proposed by WFP which is leading to large cost savings.

Department for International Development: Families

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to implement the family test; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The Family Test policy does not apply to DFID’s work as foreign policy is outside of the scope of the Test.

Department for Education

Children: Day Care

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to respond to its call for evidence on the cost of providing childcare published on 15 June 2015.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The call for evidence is part of the government review on the cost of providing childcare and is one of the sources of evidence that will inform its outcome. The review will inform decisions on funding for early years which will be made as part of the Spending Review on 25 November. The Department published the analysis of the responses to the call for evidence on GOV.UK on 8 October and the report is available online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/childcare-bill-policy-statement

Free School Meals

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2015 to Question 13930, how many key stage one children receiving universal infant free school meals would not be eligible for such meals through a benefit-related claim.

Mr Sam Gyimah: This information is published in Table 3d of the National Tables in the statistical first release available athttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015.

Children: Day Care

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the Government plans to respond to the First Report of the House of Lords Select Committee on Affordable Childcare, Session 2014-15, HL Paper 117.

Mr Sam Gyimah: During the passage of the Childcare Bill, we committed to writing to members of the House of Lords Affordable Childcare Select Committee with a response to their report. We will do so shortly. At the appropriate time, we will place copies of the response in the libraries of both Houses.

Children: Day Care

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to maintain the current staff-child ratio for childcare providers and child minders until 2020.

Mr Sam Gyimah: There are no plans to change the staff:child ratios for providers registered on the Early Years Register. Lord Nash made clear, during passage of the Childcare Bill in the House of Lords, that we are committed to keeping the existing ratios.

Pre-school Education

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to change the rules on staff-pupil ratios in early education settings.

Mr Sam Gyimah: There are no plans to change the staff: child ratios for providers registered on the Early Years Register. Lord Nash made clear, during passage of the Childcare Bill in the House of Lords, that we are committed to keeping the existing ratios.

Pre-school Education: Admissions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to increase the number of early education places for children (a) under the age of three and (b) aged three and four; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We have already made significant progress in ensuring that there are more childcare places available. There has been an increase of 230,000 places since 2009 and a significant increase in the take up of childcare provision in low- and middle-income areas.This government has also supported providers by reducing bureaucracy and making it easier for providers such as childminders and schools to provide places. We continue to work with providers to increase the number of childcare places, for example by sharing good practice on working in partnership.Subject to the will of Parliament, the Childcare Bill will introduce an entitlement to 30 hours of funded childcare for working parents of three- and four-year olds from 2017. New childcare places will be required for this age group, and the government wishes to encourage new providers to enter the childcare market and existing providers to expand. On top of the steps already being taken, such as the extension of the Childcare Business Grant Scheme, our planned Early Implementers will test provider capacity and market innovation and flexibility from 2016.

Pre-school Education: Staff

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government plans to increase the number of qualified staff working on early education settings.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The extended free childcare entitlement for working parents of three- and four-year-olds will provide eligible parents with 30 hours of free childcare per week. The government provides guidance in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, which sets out the ratios within which providers must operate. We expect providers to recruit accordingly, and that the market will respond to demand in local areas. The childcare market has proven that it is adaptable as demonstrated by the increase of 230,000 places since 2009. The timetable for implementation of the extended entitlement ensures that the market has time to expand.The quality of provision is central to ensuring benefits to children, and the main driver of quality in a setting is its workforce. The qualification levels of the childcare workforce has risen over recent years and we want the sector to continue to attract highly qualified staff with a strong aptitude for working with young children to deliver good quality childcare.We are taking steps to improve the process for those training to become Early Years Educators and Early Years Teachers. In 2016, the government will review progression routes within the sector to determine what more can be done to enable good quality staff to maximise their potential and forge a successful career within early years. This will build on existing investments in staff training and development that have brought high performing schools and private, voluntary and independent providers together to share good practice and improve transition into school for young children.

Further Education: Finance

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will discuss with the Treasury the introduction of three-year funding plans for colleges to align with the period of the Spending Review.

Mr Sam Gyimah: 16-19 funding is based on the level of recruitment institutions delivered in the previous year. That means institutions’ funding keeps pace with changing student numbers with the minimum delay. The Government has no plans to change the 16-19 funding system.

Teachers: Recruitment

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to develop a long-term policy to assist colleges in recruiting maths and English teachers.

Nick Boles: The FE Workforce Strategy published in 2014 sets out the steps government is taking to increase the number of Maths and English teachers in further education colleges. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-education-workforce-strategy)The government is committed to supporting the development of the teaching workforce in FE and has invested over £30m since 2013 to fund a range of programmes and incentives to improve the quality of leadership, teaching and support staff in the sector – with a priority on English and Maths.Since 2013, bursaries of up to £25,000 have been available to attract new graduates with relevant degrees to teach Maths and English, and to specialise in teaching students with SEN within the FE sector. These bursaries match those offered to trainee secondary teachers. To date, over 1,000 bursaries have been provided to graduates entering teaching in the FE sector.The government also runs other schemes specifically focused on recruiting additional Maths teachers to teach in further education settings such as the Maths Graduate Recruitment Incentive.Sixth form colleges benefit from English and Maths teacher recruitment and the development opportunities provided by the National College of Teaching and Leadership.

Schools: Crimes of Violence

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that school (a) staff and (b) pupils are protected from violence in schools.

Edward Timpson: Any violence in schools is deplorable. The Department issues health and safety advice designed to help schools meet their statutory obligations. The employer in a school has the overall responsibility of ensuring that reasonable steps are taken to ensure staff and pupils are not being exposed to risks to their health and safety, including making the school secure.We have appointed Tom Bennett, an expert in behaviour, to look at improving training for new teachers, to deal with school disruption and more widely at what needs to be done to improve behaviour in schools.Schools should be safe and secure environments. Combined figures relating to the number of exclusions for physical assault against pupils and adults and verbal abuse/threatening behaviour against pupils and adults show a decrease for fixed period exclusions in recent years. We have given powers to schools to search pupils and confiscate inappropriate items. Schools continue to be vigilant and I expect that they will take all the necessary steps to ensure staff and pupils are appropriately protected.

Further Education: Finance

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to maintain the current level of skills funding for 16 to 18 year olds up to May 2020.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Decisions about how 16-19 institutions will be funded in the academic year 2016/17 and beyond will be subject to the outcome of the spending review, which will set the budget for education and other public spending for the coming years.

Autism: Training

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the skills of and training for school staff working with autistic children.

Edward Timpson: The Department has a contract with the Autism Education Trust (2015-16) to deliver autism training to education professionals. The Trust has trained almost 80,000 education staff since 2012. The Department is also providing grant funding for two additional projects (2015-16): specifically, £160,965 for a project by the National Autistic Society to provide information and advice to parents and professionals on exclusion; and £239,502 for a project by Ambitious about Autism on strategies for supporting transition from school to college. Information about each of the grants is available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/25-million-injection-to-help-life-changing-childrens-servicesIn 2015-16, the Department is also funding Nasen to develop a free universal offer of SEN Continuous Professional Development for teachers and to extend the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Gateway, which offers education professionals free, easy access to high quality information, resources, and training for meeting the needs of children with SEND, including those with autism. More information about the SEND Gateway is available at: www.sendgateway.org.uk.The National College for Teaching and Leadership has produced a series of specialist online courses, one of which focuses on autism. The training materials are designed to support teachers in mainstream schools who want to improve their skills in teaching pupils with SEND. The training materials can be found at: www.education.gov.uk/lamb.In order to be awarded qualified teacher status, trainees must satisfy the Teachers’ Standards. These standards include a requirement that they have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND, and are able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them.Following Sir Andrew Carter’s independent review of the quality and effectiveness of Initial Teacher Training (ITT) courses, the Secretary of State appointed an independent working group made up of expert representatives from the sector to develop a framework of core ITT content. This includes considering Sir Andrew’s recommendations around the SEND content of the proposed framework.

Special Educational Needs

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what impact assessment her Department (a) has carried out or (b) plans to carry out on the effects that changes to National Insurance and occupational pension scheme contributions will have on special educational needs schools budgets.

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the merits of providing additional funding to schools to offset the cost of (a) National Insurance and (b) occupational pension scheme contributions.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The employer contribution rate for the Teachers Pension Scheme can be seen at: https://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/news/employers/2014/10/tiered-contributions-changes.aspx. This followed a valuation of the scheme to secure its sustainability in the long-term. From April 2016, when the single tier state pension is introduced, the employer National Insurance rate for teachers will increase to the standard rate of 13.8%. As we develop our proposals for funding in future years we are looking carefully at changes to schools’ costs, including schools with provision for children with special educational needs. We are committed to protecting schools funding, as we pledged in our manifesto. Throughout this Parliament, as pupil numbers increase, so too will the amount of money for our schools.

Special Educational Needs: Greater London

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide more funding to special educational needs schools in (a) Greater London and (b) Enfield.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We recognise that the distribution of high needs funding needs reform. There are currently wide variations in the funding provided for children with similar needs in different areas. Our aim is to make that distribution fairer. To help achieve this, we commissioned the Isos Partnership to undertake some research so that we could see where changes to the future funding of special educational needs might be needed.The research report, which we published in July 2015, contains a large number of proposals which we are considering and is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-for-young-people-with-special-educational-needs

Schools: Educational Psychology

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of resources available to (a) primary and (b) secondary school children requiring educational psychology services in each of the next five years; and how much such support will be made available during each of the next five years.

Edward Timpson: The responsibility for educational psychology training and services is devolved. This response relates to the current position in England.Local authorities are responsible for ensuring there is a sufficient supply of educational psychologists to deliver their statutory responsibilities. This includes the local authorities’ statutory duties in primary and secondary schools for assessing, monitoring and reviewing children with special educational needs.The Department works in partnership with local educational psychology services in the private and public sector to ensure a steady flow of educational psychologists to the workforce. As part of our assessment of the implications of the Children and Families Act 2014, the government has increased the number of funded educational psychology training places by 25% in response to the needs of educational psychology services. The cost of this training is shared with local educational psychology services. The Department contribution comes to £20,188,857 over the next five years.

Children: Disadvantaged

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which (a) primary and (b) secondary schools had more than (i) five, (ii) seven and (c) 10 per cent of pupils defined as children in need in the most recent year for which figures are available; and how many such pupils there were at each of those schools.

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in need whose primary assessment of need was abuse or neglect were within 12 months of a previous referral in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Edward Timpson: The information requested is not available.

Schools: East Ham

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2015 to Question 2730, what progress she has made on establishing a school on the site of the former East Ham police station.

Edward Timpson: We have investigated a number of options for utilising the former East Ham Police station, which we continue to progress. This includes working with the Regional Schools Commissioner to identify free school trusts who may wish to open on the site.Given the sensitivity of the discussions I am not able to release further information at this stage.

Ministry of Justice

National Offender Management Service: ICT

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost is of the development and rollout of the new NOMS IT system.

Andrew Selous: The programme to develop and roll out the new NOMS IT system was forecast to cost £35m. The new system is expected to reduce IT costs thanks to efficiency savings.

Bill of Rights

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many drafts of a proposed British Bill of Rights his Department has produced in each year since 2010.

Dominic Raab: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 02 November 2015.The correct answer should have been:

The Ministry of Justice has not produced any drafts of a proposed Bill of Rights since 2010. This Government was elected with a mandate to reform and modernise the UK human rights framework. We will fully consult on our proposals before introducing legislation for a Bill of Rights and we will set out our proposals in due course.

Dominic Raab: The Ministry of Justice has not produced any drafts of a proposed Bill of Rights since 2010. This Government was elected with a mandate to reform and modernise the UK human rights framework. We will fully consult on our proposals before introducing legislation for a Bill of Rights and we will set out our proposals in due course.

Community Rehabilitation Companies

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the extent to which community rehabilitation companies (a) tailor their services to and (b) meet the needs of female offenders.

Caroline Dinenage: During the competition to award contracts to run CRCs, the department assessed plans regarding the provision of services to meet the needs of female offenders. I have also personally met with, and received assurances from, all the CRCs owners as to the specific provision of services for women.CRCs are currently finalising their service provision models and we continue to closely monitor that all CRCs are meeting their contractual obligations in regard to women offenders.These reforms also ensure that, for the first time in recent history, virtually all of the 77% of female offenders serving sentences of less than 12 months in custody will receive support on release.

Legal Aid Scheme: Criminal Proceedings

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many firms have written to the Legal Aid Agency indicating an intention to challenge a decision not to award them a contract in the Criminal Duty Tender; and how many firms have issued legal proceedings in respect of that decision.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Over 1000 bids were received for 527 contracts under this process. Some unsuccessful bidders are challenging the decision not to award contracts to them. 115 claims have been issued by 97 firms. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) continues to consider the legal proceedings issued by unsuccessful bidders in the crime duty tender.

Winchester Prison

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what measures the Government plans to take to address the concerns expressed by the Independent Monitoring Board in its report, HMP Winchester, Annual Report June 2014 to May 2015, published on 2 November 2015.

Andrew Selous: The HMP Winchester IMB Annual Report acknowledges the professionalism and commitment of the Governor and his staff at HMP Winchester, who manage a challenging and diverse population. We are currently recruiting prison officers to fill vacancies at Winchester, and new officers are due to start work in the new year. Should a serious incident occur at Winchester or any other prison, the situation would be constantly risk assessed as it develops to ensure the best and most appropriate response. National resources are available to provide assistance at any time, if additional resources are needed.A wide ranging programme of work has been initiated to counteract New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) in prisons. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) continues to work hard to source more work for prisoners across the entire prison estate. This includes working with local and national businesses as well as other Government Departments.I wrote to Winchester’s Independent Monitoring Board Chair on 3rd November, providing a full response to the concerns raised.

Ministry of Justice: Public Expenditure

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) the amount of any underspend expected against departmental expenditure limits in the current fiscal year and (b) his Department's latest forecast of total AME spend for this year are; and what the forecasts were for those two sums at the time of the Summer Budget 2015 and March Budget 2015.

Mike Penning: The Department is not forecasting an underspend against departmental expenditure limits. At the time of the Summer Budget and the March Budget 2015, the Department was also not forecasting an underspend.Totals for Annually Managed Expenditure are published twice a year at Main and Supplementary Estimates. The latest figures for 2015-16 were published in the Main Estimates, presented to the House of Commons on 2 July 2015. A link is provided below. Updated totals will be published in the Supplementary Estimates later in the financial year. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/main-supply-estimates-2015-to-2016

Insolvency: Legal Costs

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on director conduct of the funding of insolvency litigation being brought under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Dominic Raab: An Impact Assessment was published when the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 received Royal Assent in May 2012.The Ministry of Justice is in the process of considering the way forward in relation to the application to insolvency litigation of the no win no fee reforms in Part 2 of the Act.

Courts: Closures

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of potential risks associated with vulnerable witnesses and defendants travelling by public transport when considering potential court closures as part of proposals on the future of the court and tribunal estate; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara: To ensure that access to justice is maintained, we are committed to providing alternative ways for users to access our services. This includes the use of other civic buildings and extending video conferencing facilities. This will further reduce the need for vulnerable victims and witnesses to travel to attend court.

Courts: Location

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential opportunities to enhance local services on pre-existing estates by co-locating services as part of proposals on the provision of the court and tribunal estate; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The consultation on the provision of court and tribunal services in England and Wales included details of plans to integrate services in 31 existing court buildings. The court estate is kept under review and any further opportunities to integrate services will be carefully considered.

Trials

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of trials cracked as a result of the prosecution due to (a) insufficient evidence, (b) witness absent or withdrawn, (c) public interest grounds and (d) adjournment refused in (i) Magistrates' courts and (ii) the Crown Court in each year since 2007.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of trials were ineffective due to the (a) prosecution being engaged in another trial, (b) prosecution advocate failing to attend and (c) prosecution increasing the time estimate due to insufficient time for trial to start in (i) Magistrates' courts and (ii) the Crown Court in each year since 2007.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Overall numbers and reasons for cracked and ineffective trials are included in our Criminal Courts Statistics Quarterly publication, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2015In the published data the reasons specified in the question are aggregated together into one reason in our table: “prosecution end case” for cracked trials and “prosecution availability” for ineffective trials.The information requested can be found in the table attached.



Effectiveness of magistrates trials 2008-14
(Excel SpreadSheet, 17.73 KB)

Companies: Ownership

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recommendations his Department has made to the government of (a) Guernsey and (b)Jersey on the definition of legitimate interest in the management of central registers of beneficial ownership.

Dominic Raab: The Prime Minister has made clear that he would like a publicly accessible central register of company beneficial ownership to be the new international standard.The Government is in dialogue with the Crown Dependencies about UK policy in this area and progress on the wider G20 transparency agenda.The role of my Department is to manage the constitutional relationship between the UK and the Crown Dependencies.We have discussed the subject of beneficial ownership with the Crown Dependencies where it impacts on that relationship but it is not my Department’s role to make specific recommendations.The Crown Dependencies are not part of the United Kingdom. They are self-governing Dependencies of the Crown with their own legislative assemblies, administrative, fiscal and legal systems and courts of law.

Prison Sentences

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to amend sentencing guidelines to reduce the amount of time that offenders spend in prison.

Andrew Selous: Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the courts, who must follow guidelines unless it would not be in the interests of justice to do so. Sentencing guidelines are issued by the independent Sentencing Council to promote consistency and proportionality in sentencing. The guidelines are available on the Sentencing Council website.

Prisons: Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) average and (b) maximum time taken by his Department to process applications for a warrant to transfer inmates to a (i) mental health unit and (ii) to a different ward within a mental health unit was in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Civil Proceedings: Legal Costs

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Department of Health on proposed fixed cost regime change to the civil procedure rules; and what consequences the proposed changes will have on his Department's policies.

Dominic Raab: My officials are supporting the Department of Health in its consideration of fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence claims. The Government remains supportive of the principle of extending fixed recoverable costs and we continue to consider areas in which implementation might be appropriate and workable.

Prisons: Education

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of space in prisons is used for educational purposes.

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent representations he has received on expansion and improvement of educational facilities in prisons; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to broaden the range of educational subjects taught in prisons.

Andrew Selous: Education is embedded in a wide range of regime activities which occur within a prison including classrooms, libraries and industries. No data is held centrally on the proportion of space at each prison (and this would incur disproportionate cost to calculate).The Secretary of State for Justice announced on 8th September a review of the quality of education in prisons, chaired by Dame Sally Coates. The review will examine the scope, quality and effectiveness of current provision. It will consider the scope and range of the current curricula and identify the most effective teaching and delivery models. Stakeholders are being consulted and a Call for Evidence has been issued. A copy of the terms of reference are lodged in the library of the House and at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-prison-education-terms-of-reference

Landlord and Tenant: Cumbria

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations his Department has received on manorial rights in Cumbria in the last 12 months.

Dominic Raab: My Department has not received any representations on manorial rights in Cumbria in the last 12 months.

Land: Tenure

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to abolish the feudal system of land tenure in England and Wales.

Dominic Raab: The government has no plans to change the basis on which land is owned in England and Wales.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Betting Shops

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps he has taken to tackle clustering of betting shops in town centres.

Tracey Crouch: In April 2014, the Coalition Government published its gambling strategy “Gambling protections and controls" which includeda number of measures to tackle problem gambling - this was in response to concerns following the implementation of the 2005 Act, brought in under the then Government.As part of this approach, new planning legislation came into effect in April 2015 which requires planning permission forany change to use to a betting shop.Councils can use their Local Plans to shape where retail development should go, ensure the right balance of use classes, and prevent any negative cumulative impact of multiple premises in the same vicinity. Some councils have issued supplementary planning guidance to address directly the proliferation of betting shops in a particular local area.Councils also have powers under gambling legislation to address problems by individual premises and review the licenses of premises which breach the licensing objectives (e.g. preventing crime and disorder; and protecting children and the vulnerable from harm).We believe that this balanced approach allows councils to take targeted action to tackle localised problems. We continue to monitor the effects of existing controls and will take action if these are found to be insufficient.

Sports: Betting

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of a Sport Betting Right on betting operators; and if he will make a statement.

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefit to sport of the introduction of a Sport Betting Right; and if he will make a statement.

Tracey Crouch: The government has no plans to introduce a sport betting right.

Playing Fields

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to support the provision of playing pitches in local areas for community requirements.

Tracey Crouch: We recognise the importance of playing pitches for local communities. Sport England is a statutory consultee on planning applications affecting playing fields and its principle aim is to ensure local sports provisions are protected and enhanced. Sport England’s Protecting Playing Fields fund has invested £22 million of National Lottery money in 419 projects, protecting and improving over 1,100 local pitches. This includes Elworth Cricket Club in Congleton, which benefitted from over £47,000 of investment from Sport England in 2015 to develop a new playing field for its junior cricket team.

Department for Work and Pensions

Children: Day Care

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants claimed support for childcare costs in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Priti Patel: The information you have requested is not currently available. The Department published its strategy for releasing official statistics on Universal Credit (UC) in September 2013. As outlined in the strategy, officials are currently quality assuring data for UC therefore it is not yet possible to give a definitive list of what statistics will be provided in the future. These statistics however will be published in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for official statistics.The latest official experimental statistics on UC and the Department’s release strategy can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics.

Department for Work and Pensions: European Social Fund

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which of his Department's projects have received funding under the  European Social Fund 2007 to 2013; what the location is of each such project; and how much each such project received.

Priti Patel: A detailed breakdown of all projects funded under the ESF 2007-13 programme, including location and how much each project received can be found on GOV.UK by clicking here.The page provides a number of links – including a summary document showing funding for each CFO by region. Further down the page there are links which provide more detailed information by region, including specific detail on the funding of DWP projects.

Jobcentre Plus: Food Banks

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what procedures his Department follows when a jobcentre client requests a food bank voucher for the fourth time in any given year.

Priti Patel: The Department for Work and Pensions does not issue food bank vouchers.Jobcentre Plus holds details of local organisations to which its staff can signpost claimants experiencing financial difficulty.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what procedure his Department follows in investigating cases of discrepancies between statements in disability benefit claimant questionnaires and assessor reports.

Justin Tomlinson: Following the gathering of evidence, including the assessor’s report which would reflect the claimants own evidence from the consultation and the questionnaire, a DWP decision maker will decide the facts of the case and then make a decision, applying those facts to the conditions for benefit. Any contradictions within the evidence will be decided on the balance of probabilities. The claimant can raise any such issues again at the Mandatory Reconsideration stage.

Universal Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether all types of credit union account are eligible for the receipt of universal credit.

Priti Patel: DWP can pay Universal Credit into any credit union account.

Ministry of Defence

Peacekeeping Operations

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, by what proportion UK military capabilities have been reduced in the last five years; and what assessment he has made of the resources available to the armed forces to defend the UK in the event of a major conflict.

Michael Fallon: The Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2010 set out a clear plan for the future structure of the Armed Forces to ensure they could meet new and emerging threats to our security. We are currently conducting a Strategic Defence and Security Review which will consider the threats to the UK and the resources required to meet current and future threats. We are also committed to making no further reductions in the number of Armed forces personnel, including an Army of 82,000, and we have some of the most sophisticated aircraft, ships and submarines in the world. We will spend 2% of our GDP on defence, in line with NATO targets, and have the largest defence budget in the EU and the second largest in NATO.

Weapons

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value of weapons owned by his Department was in each of the last five years.

Mr Philip Dunne: Net book values for military weapons, platforms and support equipment are published in the MOD's Annual Reports and Accounts which are routinely placed on the gov.uk website at the following link: htpps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mod-annual-reports under the heading Single Use Military Equipment (SUME).

European Fighter Aircraft

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Typhoon aircraft are unable to fly because parts of them have been removed for use in other aircraft.

Mr Philip Dunne: It is routine practice to move parts between aircraft within the RAF Typhoon fleet to ensure optimum aircraft availability. Four Typhoon aircraft held in the sustainment fleet are currently being used as donor aircraft and consequently are unable to fly.

Trident

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the Trident missile renewal programme on international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

Michael Fallon: As set out in the 2006 White Paper "The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent" (Cm 6994) the UK will participate in the US life extension programme for the Trident D5 missile which will extend the life of the missiles until the early 2040s. As a responsible nuclear weapons state and party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), we are committed to trying to achieve a world without nuclear weapons and we recognise our obligations under the NPT. I am entirely satisfied that this life extension programme is fully consistent with our NPT obligations.

European Fighter Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress has been made on integrating the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft with (a) Storm Shadow missiles, (b) Meteor missiles, (c) the DASS radar system and (d) other avionics.

Mr Philip Dunne: The UK is committed to a series of phased enhancement programmes for Typhoon to increase its overall capability. Under current plans, the in-service dates on Typhoon will be August 2018, for Storm Shadow, and June 2018 for Meteor. Integration trials on both weapons are continuing. The Defensive Aids Sub System (DASS) is an existing part of the UK Typhoon fleet and is subject to continued review and enhancement. Separate development of an Active Electronic Scanned Array radar for Typhoon also continues.

European Fighter Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft have been exported in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: In 2012 the Sultanate of Oman placed an order with BAE Systems for 12 Typhoon aircraft which are currently being assembled in Lancashire. Deliveries of Typhoon aircraft to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are ongoing. The State of Kuwait recently confirmed that it intends to purchase 28 Typhoon aircraft.The Government remains at the forefront of export campaigns for Typhoon working actively with industry and the Eurofighter Partner Nations to support potential Typhoon sales to a number of countries.My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State recently announced that the Ministry of Defence will assume leadership for a number of strategic export campaigns, including Typhoon.

European Fighter Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the announcement by BAE Systems on jobs, related to production of the Eurofighter Typhoon on 12 November 2015, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs that will be lost which are related to the production of that aircraft.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the announcement by BAE Systems on jobs, related to production of the Eurofighter Typhoon on 12 November 2015, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs in each production location that will be lost which are related to the production of that aircraft.

Mr Philip Dunne: BAE Systems issued a statement on 12 November 2015 confirming that the company was taking action to reduce the Eurofighter Typhoon production rate; it also confirmed its intention to reduce the workforce within its Military Air and Information business by up to 371 roles. The majority of the affected posts are based at the company's Samlesbury site, with the remainder at its Warton facility.Decisions on the capacity and capability of any company, including the division of work between sites, primarily rests with the company concerned.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Fire Services: Industrial Disputes

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's consultation, Enabling closer working between the Emergency Services, whether firefighters employed by police and crime commissioners will retain the right to take part in industrial action; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Clark: The Department for Communities and Local Government, the Home Office and the Department of Health led joint consultation ‘Enabling closer working between the Emergency Services’ has made clear that should Police and Crime Commissioners assume responsibility for fire and rescue services, the important distinction between operational policing and firefighting will be maintained. The consultation did not propose to change the current rules around industrial action.

Charities: Non-domestic Rates

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to business rate relief on the charity sector.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government is continuing to consider representations, including on business rates reliefs, to inform decisions on reform of the business rates system. The Government has confirmed the review will conclude by the end of the year.

Communities and Local Government: European Regional Development Fund

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which of his Department's projects have received funding under the  European Regional Development Fund 2007 to 2013; what the location is of each such project; and how much each such project received.

James Wharton: The information requested is in the attached table.



DCLG ERDF 2007-13  
(Excel SpreadSheet, 14.96 KB)

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service: Staff

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the change in the number of firefighter posts was in the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service in 2013-14.

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the change in the number of firefighter posts was in the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service in 2013-14.

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the change in the number of firefighter posts was in the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service in 2013-14.

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the change was in the number of firefighter posts in the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service in 2013-14.

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the change was in the number of firefighter posts in the Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service in 2013-14.

Greg Clark: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 6 November 2015, PQ 13946.

Energy: Conservation

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the level of resources necessary for trading standards to fulfil the additional duties set out under the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2015 and (b) alternative arrangements for enforcing those regulations; and what discussions his Department has had with local authority trading standards and professional groups representing trading standards on the effect that those duties will have on their resourcing.

James Wharton: These Regulations do not change the nature of the existing enforcement responsibility for local authorities or set central targets for enforcement activity. Any additional burden is therefore assessed to be minimal.Discussions with local enforcement officers indicated that the additional burdens imposed by the annual reporting of existing duties would be minimal as enforcement activity should already be appropriately recorded locally.

Children: Disadvantaged

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many children in families on the troubled families programme were classified as in need in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Greg Clark: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Wales Office

Local Government: Cardiff

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what progress has been made on the proposals for a Cardiff City Deal.

Stephen Crabb: Cardiff is one of Europe’s youngest and most innovative capital cities. Last week the Government received Cardiff Capital Region’s latest proposals for the Cardiff City Deal. We are currently considering the submission and will continue to work with the Cardiff Capital Region to progress the Deal.

Government Departments

Mr Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits for his Department of merging the Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland Offices to make a Department for the regions.

Stephen Crabb: I would start by reminding my honourable Friend that Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are nations, not regions.Since my appointment as Secretary of State for Wales, I have taken action to drive down costs within the Wales Office by collaborating with other Government Departments and sharing services.At the present time I believe the nations are best served by strong Secretaries of State representing their interests around the Cabinet table.

Tourism: Wales

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Government support for the tourism sector in Wales.

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Government support for the tourism sector in Wales.

Alun Cairns: In July, the Government published its 5-point plan to ensure the benefits of tourism extend beyond London and across the UK. The Welsh economy continues to benefit from a thriving tourist industry, with recent figures showing the amount spent by overseas visitors increased by £34 million over the last year.

HM Treasury

Working Tax Credit: Salford

Barbara Keeley: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of in-work households in Salford in receipt of tax credits with an underlying entitlement to working tax credit in each of the last five tax years did not have a claim with an underlying entitlement to working tax credit in the following year.

Barbara Keeley: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average duration of an in-work tax credit claim containing an underlying entitlement to working tax credit have for claimants in Salford (a) in them last full year for which figures are available and (b) year to date.

Barbara Keeley: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total number of on-flows and off-flows tax credits was in Salford in the most recent (a) 12 and (b) 24 months for which data is available.

Barbara Keeley: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of in-work households in Salford in receipt of tax credits with an underlying entitlement to working tax credit in each of the last five years had not had a claim with an underlying entitlement to working tax credit in the proceeding tax year.

Barbara Keeley: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit claimants in Salford have been in continuous receipt of tax credits for (a) one, (b) two, (c) three and (d) four or more years.

Barbara Keeley: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average duration of a claim for tax credits was in Salford in the most recent (a) 12 and (b) 24 months for which figures are available.

Damian Hinds: The answers are only available at disproportionate cost.

NHS: Finance

John Mc Nally: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it is his policy to maintain the level of funding to the NHS from national insurance contributions (NICs) regardless of the overall amount raised by NICs; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: By 2020-21, the Government will increase funding for the NHS by £10 billion a year in real terms compared to 2014-15 to support the transformation of services across the country. This investment is £2bn more than the NHS asked for, and will help deliver the Government’s objective in moving to a seven day NHS by 2020.The Government does not commit to achieving a specific level of funding to the NHS from National Insurance contributions (NICs). Instead, a fixed proportion of each class of NICs receipts (from employees, the self-employed and employers) is allocated directly to the NHS; this adds up to about 20% of NICs receipts. The rest of NHS funding comes from general taxation.

Arts: Greater Manchester

Mr David Crausby: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the leaders of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on future provision of funding for the arts after the devolution agreement comes into effect.

Greg Hands: The Government is working closely with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on the implementation of the landmark agreement to introduce a metro-wide Mayor. Culture is a key element of building a Northern Powerhouse. The Government has committed to support arts and cultural projects in Greater Manchester, including £78 million towards a new theatre and exhibition space called The Factory Manchester, and £3 million for a new temporary exhibition space at Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry.

Local Government: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects to make a decision on City Deals for (a) Edinburgh, (b) Aberdeen and (c) Inverness.

Greg Hands: Since announcing the intention at the March Budget to work towards City Deals for Aberdeen and Inverness, the government has received initial proposals for City Deals from partners in Aberdeen, Inverness and also Edinburgh. The Department for Communities and Local Government are working with the Scotland Office to study the proposals in depth, as well as discussing with the Scottish Government to achieve outcomes that benefit both Scotland and the whole of the UK.

Devolution: Finance

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, by what process the Treasury determines whether an item of public spending should trigger a consequential payment to the devolved administrations under the Barnett formula.

Greg Hands: The Barnett Formula determines changes to the block grant funding allocated to the devolved administrations by the UK Government in relation to departmental spending within Departmental Expenditure Limits.Under the Formula, the Scottish Government, Northern Ireland Executive and Welsh Government receive a population-based proportion of changes in planned UK Government spending on comparable services in England, where those services correspond to devolved responsibilities in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Northern Rock Asset Management

Michael Dugher: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what Support for Mortgage Relief provisions are available to customers of Northern Rock Asset Management.

Harriett Baldwin: No specific provision has been made for customers of Northern Rock Asset Management or any other bank or building society following the restriction to finance cost relief for individual residential landlords.Restricting finance cost relief to the basic rate of income tax means all individual landlords will be treated the same by the tax system, regardless of their overall income.

Employee Ownership

Tim Farron: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) employees and (b) companies have participated in the shares for rights scheme under section 31 of the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013.

Mr David Gauke: The information requested is not available.

Children: Day Care

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to ensure parents using employer childcare voucher schemes are informed of the planned introduction of the tax free childcare scheme.

Damian Hinds: HMRC are working closely with parents, childcare providers and employers to develop communications and detailed guidance on Tax-Free Childcare, including information for families who currently receive Employer-Supported Childcare. HMRC are also developing an online calculator to help such families decide which scheme is right for them.

Energy: Investment

Anna Turley: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Enterprise Investment Scheme, Venture Capital Trust, tax relief or Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme have offered low-risk investment opportunities in energy generation; and what his Department's definition of low-risk is in this context.

Mr David Gauke: The purpose of the tax-advantaged venture capital schemes is to provide funding to smaller, higher-risk companies that would otherwise struggle to access finance to develop and grow. To target the schemes at these companies, and to ensure investment is not crowded out by low-risk investment opportunities, the schemes exclude certain activities from qualifying for investment under the schemes.The list of excluded activities is updated as necessary to exclude activities that are able to access finance from the market and which may therefore be regarded as lower risk. These include asset-backed activities, such as property dealing and development, leasing of assets or exploiting acquired copyrights, general financial and professional services, and financing activities that can divert the tax reliefs to non-qualifying activities. For these activities, a lack of proven track record is unlikely to affect the company’s ability to access finance. In addition, such activities are likely to have collateral against which loans can be secured.In recent years, the Government has been concerned about the disproportionate amount of tax-advantaged investment in certain energy generation activities. Their asset-backed nature makes it easier for these activities to access mainstream finance. Therefore the Government has taken several steps to exclude certain types of energy generation from the schemes, including in 2012, 2014 and 2015.The Government keeps all tax-advantaged venture capital schemes under review, and makes changes where necessary to ensure the schemes remain well-targeted and effective.

VAT: Electronic Commerce

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Revenue and Customs is investigating VAT fraud conducted by online traders operating from outside the EU; and what action his Department is taking to prevent the possibility of such fraud taking place.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs is actively targeting operational and intelligence activity, as well as a range of other options, to tackle this issue.

VAT: Electronic Commerce

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions the Government has had with (a) Amazon and (b) eBay on VAT fraud conducted by online traders operating from outside the EU; and what safeguards his Department has put in place to prevent such fraud.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is actively targeting operational and intelligence activity, as well as a range of other options, to tackle this issue. However, HMRC is unable to give details of their plans in respect of any individual taxpayer because of taxpayer confidentiality.

Welfare Tax Credits: Salford

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average duration of a claim for tax credits was in Salford in the most recent (a) three and (b) six  months for which data is available.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total on-flow and off-flow for tax credits was for claimants in Salford in the most recent (a) three and (b) six months for which data is available.

Damian Hinds: The answers are only available at disproportionate cost.

Welfare Tax Credits

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether there are alternative mechanisms for tax credits claimants to inform his Department of changes to their childcare arrangements other than the tax credits helpline.

Damian Hinds: Currently a tax credit customer can inform HMRC of changes to their childcare arrangements via the post as well as contacting the tax credits helpline.

Terrorism: Sanctions

Diana Johnson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many individuals have had financial sanctions imposed on them for expected involvement in terrorism in each of the last five years; and how many of those individuals are British (a) citizens and (b) residents.

Harriett Baldwin: There are three counter-terrorism financial sanctions regimes in place in the UK: the UN Al Qaida sanctions regime implemented in the UK by way of EU Regulation 881/2002; the EU’s counter-terrorism regime under Common Position 931; and the UK’s domestic counter-terrorism regime under the Terrorist Asset Freezing etc. Act 2010. Information on the numbers of individuals upon whom sanctions have been imposed in each of the last five years is available from the Quarterly Reports to Parliament on the Operation of the counter-terrorism sanctions regimes.Recent Quarterly Reports to Parliament: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/operation-of-the-uks-counter-terrorist-asset-freezing-regime-quarterly-report-to-parliamentHistorical Quarterly Reports to Parliament:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/operation-of-the-uks-counter-terrorist-asset-freezing-regime-quarterly-report-to-parliamentThe relevant data from the Quarterly Reports to Parliament is consolidated in the table below. This table lists the number of new designations made in each of the last five years, data is also available in the Quarterly Reports to Parliament setting out the total number of individuals designated in each of those years:UN Al Qaida regime Individuals (EU Regulation 881/2002)EU-designated individuals not proposed by the UK*.Individuals newly designated under the UK’s domestic regime (TAFA)TotalBritishIn UKTotalBritishIn UKTotalBritishIn UK201111000005002012130000000020138000001002014220000087320153550000111*Figures for the number of individuals proposed by the UK are not included to prevent duplication of figures providing in the first columns.

Money Laundering

Diana Johnson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff of the Financial Conduct Authority and the Financial Services Authority worked on money laundering enforcement in each of the last five years.

Harriett Baldwin: This is an operational matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government. The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Money Laundering: Prosecutions

Diana Johnson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which companies were prosecuted by the Financial Conduct Authority or the Financial Services Authority for issues relating to money laundering in each of the last five years.

Harriett Baldwin: This is an operational matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government. The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Connaught Asset Management

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent progress there has been in holding to account directors responsible for promoting, managing and supervising Connaught Asset Management.

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of steps taken to hold to account companies and directors responsible for promoting and managing the affairs of Connaught Asset Management.

Harriett Baldwin: This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government.These questions have been passed on to the FCA. They will reply directly to the Honorable Member Kirsten Oswald by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Energy: Conservation

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department has taken to promote Energy Efficiency Week; how her Department has worked with non-governmental organisations on such initiatives; and what the cost to the public purse was of those initiatives.

Andrea Leadsom: Big Energy Saving Week is a Great Britain wide consumer awareness raising campaign run ahead of winter in partnership with respected partner organisations Citizens Advice and the Energy Saving Trust (EST), with around £300,000 funding provided by DECC.The campaign was delivered 26-30 October 2015 and focussed on supporting consumers to understand how they can save money by switching tariff, supplier and payment method and improving energy efficiency, through hundreds of face to face outreach events run by Citizens Advice offices and a national, regional and social media campaign delivered by EST.The last campaign in October 2014 was a big success with over 500 events nationwide reaching an estimated 100,000 consumers face to face or through dedicated helplines with many millions more reached through a complementary media campaign.

Renewable Energy: Heating

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the installed capacity required to meet the Government's 2020 renewable heat target in each year from 2015 to 2020.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government does not have a renewable heat target for 2020, but by that year the UK is required to obtain 15% of its final energy consumption from renewable sources under the EU Renewable Energy Directive. This includes renewable heating, where the level of renewables has more than doubled since 2012/13 to reach 4.9% in 2014.Progress towards the overall target is monitored via interim milestones. The UK is continuing to make progress; and we are set to meet the next interim target, which is an average of final energy consumption over 2013/14. The provisional figure, released on 25 June, showed 6.3% of final energy consumption for 2013/14 came from renewable sources, against a target level of 5.4%.

Renewable Energy: Heating

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimates her Department has made of the amount of carbon dioxide displaced as a result of the introduction of the (a) domestic and (b) non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department has made projections of carbon dioxide savings (MtCO2) from the domestic and non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme in the Updated Energy & Emissions Projections (EEP), last updated Sept 2014. In the absence of funding arrangements after 2015/16, these carbon savings assume an extrapolation of RHI deployment to 2020.The projected savings will be updated if required for any RHI scheme changes following the Spending Review outcome.The EEP, which include the relevant carbon saving projections from the RHI, are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/406805/Copy_of_Annex_D__corrected_17-Feb-2015_.xls.

Department of Energy and Climate Change: Stationery

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the value of stationery that has been (a) lost and (b) stolen from her Department in each of the last five fiscal years; and what the cost was of replacing such stationery.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department has made no estimate on the value of any stationery (a) lost or (b) stolen in any of the last five fiscal years.

Renewable Energy: Heating

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent projections her Department has made of the (a) total installed capacity and (b) generation output of each renewable heat technology in 2020-21.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department has made projections for the renewable heat generation of renewable heat installations under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), the main scheme of our heat strategy. Projections to the end of 2015/16 can be found in the Impact Assessment for the RHI, which is quoted below.Detailed projections do not go beyond 2015/16 because this is the end of agreed RHI budget; and so policy beyond that period is subject to future budget arrangements. The Department’s projections only cover the generation projected from deployment under the RHI. The Department does not hold projections for the market beyond the RHI.The Department has not published projections for the total capacity (by technology) under the RHI, as, due to the highly variable use patterns (known as load factors) of heating technologies, capacity is not a very useful metric. Instead, we consider generation per year, which is also the unit that we report against the target set by the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED). Renewable heat projections under RHI (GWh)SourceLow MI scenarioCentral MI scenarioSmall and Medium Biomass2,7993,167Large Biomass8181,228Ground-source Heat Pumps138194Air- and water-source heat pumps312427Biomethane and Biogas7081,073Combined heat and power (CHP)186879Other (e.g. Deep Geothermal)2834Domestic (all technologies)178370TOTAL (non-domestic and domestic)5,1677,373Source: Table 8, RHI Tariff Review, Scheme Extensions and Budget Management (24/09/2013).The table uses the Low and Central scenarios for Market-Intelligence based projections of potential deployment, spend and installation numbers under the RHI (MI). Non-domestic projections are split by technology; domestic technologies are aggregated.

Renewable Energy: Heating

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent estimate her Department has made of the amount of carbon dioxide displaced in the UK by installed renewable heat technologies.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department has made projections of carbon dioxide savings (MtCO2) in the Updated Energy & Emissions Projections (EEP), last updated Sept 2014. In the absence of funding arrangements after 2015/16, these carbon savings assume an extrapolation of RHI deployment to 2020.The projections cover carbon dioxide displacement from the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), the main scheme in its heat strategy. The Department has not made projections for renewable heat carbon savings from technologies not supported by the RHI scheme.The projected savings will be updated if required for any RHI scheme changes following the Spending Review outcome.The EEP, which include the relevant carbon saving projections from the RHI are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/406805/Copy_of_Annex_D__corrected_17-Feb-2015_.xls.

Department of Energy and Climate Change: Freedom of Information

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what average time her Department took to respond to freedom of information requests in each year since 2005.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government publishes statistics on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 within central government, including on timeliness. These can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.

Electricity: Storage

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to identify locations for potential electricity storage schemes that would best supplement the existing National Grid system.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department has recently commissioned a study to assess the level of system flexibility (e.g. electricity storage, interconnection, demand side response) that may be required in the future. This study will consider how much and what type of flexibility is both least regrets and optimal for our energy system. This study is expected to conclude in the spring.In addition, with support from a DECC innovation grant, a UK pumped hydro storage developer has assessed the potential viability of new pumped hydro sites around Great Britain. They concluded that up to 15GW of potential additional pumped storage capacity was available, using various criteria such as the presence of existing or potential reservoirs, grid connection distance and whether the site was in an environmentally sensitive area. Other pumped storage developers have independently identified over 1 GW of additional potential storage capacity.

Electricity: Storage

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the comparative merits of electricity storage and transmission network upgrades.

Andrea Leadsom: The Network Options Assessment (NOA) was introduced as a result of Ofgem’s Integrated Transmission Planning and Regulation project.It is an holistic, forward-looking analysis of the options for the development of the transmission system.The NOA has a 10-year outlook and will be published annually.In developing the annual statement, National Grid as System Operator must work closely with the three GB transmission operators to propose network solutions which facilitate an efficient, coordinated and economical system of electricity transmission. As part of this process, National Grid is required to consider the merits of solutions other than transmission build, such as storage. A cost-benefit analysis of storage compared to other assets is performed by National Grid as a part of this assessment, in which constraint payments form a part.

Green Deal Scheme: Disadvantaged

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of Green Deal Home Improvement funding that was allocated to deprived areas.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 10 November 2015



The Green Deal Home Improvement Fund was available to owners and occupiers of residential property situated in England or Wales. Provided such applicants met the scheme eligibility criteria, they were free to apply. Funding was not centrally allocated to any particular areas based on deprivation or any other criteria.

Electricity: Storage

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the merits of exempting operators of electricity storage from Balanced Services Use of System charges.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department and Ofgem are jointly considering the need to address the legislative status of storage, which has potential implications for the charging regime for storage. Ofgem have recently published “Making the electricity system more flexible and delivering the benefits for consumers”, in which they state, “While storage has been providing flexibility in other countries, and pumped storage has historically played a strong role in GB, the potential of battery and other forms of storage to smooth intermittent generation or contribute to local balancing has not yet been fully realised in the UK… We will therefore: undertake work with DECC to clarify the legal and commercial status of storage and explore whether changes to the regulatory and commercial framework are needed to enable its efficient use, seeking input on options from stakeholders. Where changes are needed, they will be informed by considering the interactions and implications of a new regulatory framework for storage on all segments of the market”:https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2015/09/flexibility_position_paper_final_0.pdf.

Electricity: Storage

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what comparative cost-benefit analyses her Department has made of electricity storage and constraint payments.

Andrea Leadsom: The Network Options Assessment (NOA) was introduced as a result of Ofgem’s Integrated Transmission Planning and Regulation project.It is an holistic, forward-looking analysis of the options for the development of the transmission system.The NOA has a 10-year outlook and will be published annually.In developing the annual statement, National Grid as System Operator must work closely with the three GB transmission operators to propose network solutions which facilitate an efficient, coordinated and economical system of electricity transmission. As part of this process, National Grid is required to consider the merits of solutions other than transmission build, such as storage. A cost-benefit analysis of storage compared to other assets is performed by National Grid as a part of this assessment, in which constraint payments form a part.

Department of Energy and Climate Change: EU Law

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which regulations her Department introduced as a result of EU legislation in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015 to date; which regulations her Department expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2016 and (ii) 2017; and what estimate she has made of the cost of each such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.

Andrea Leadsom: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Minister of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to Question 15037:http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-11-05/15037/.

Electricity Interconnectors: Republic of Ireland

Dr Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of UK withdrawal from the EU on the importation of electricity from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing: Energy

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the average time taken is for customers to switch their domestic energy supplier.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cabinet Office

Charities: Minimum Wage

Anna Turley: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effect of raising the minimum wage on the capacity of charities to deliver public services.

Mr Rob Wilson: The National Living Wage will benefit low paid workers across all sectors, including charity workers delivering public services on behalf of the state.Government is taking steps to support employers with the transition. For example, the employer National Insurance Bill for businesses and charities will be cut by £1000 from April 2016.

Cabinet Office: Legal Costs

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent in legal costs on the Information Rights Tribunal case on the Reducing Regulation Sub-Committee Freedom of Information request.

Mr Oliver Letwin: Litigation and Counsel'scostswill be accounted for at the end of the process.

Cabinet Committees

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on how many occasions the Reducing Regulation Sub-Committee has met.

Mr Oliver Letwin: We do not generally disclose information about proceedings of Cabinet Committees.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Food: Exports

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage the sale of UK produce to new global markets.

George Eustice: In October 2013 we launched the ‘Food and Drink – International Action Plan’. This has resulted in over 4,000 companies receiving Government support and contributed to securing nearly £1bn of business for these companies. We have opened over 100 new markets for exports of animal and animal products to non-EU markets and created a faster, more efficient electronic health certification process. We are in the process of developing a new Exports Action Plan with the industry, which is due to be launched early next year.Defra Ministers continue to champion our excellent food and drink overseas. I visited Anuga (the world’s largest food and drink trade show) earlier this year and the Secretary of State has recently been to China to further market access discussions and support the launch of the ‘Food is GREAT’ campaign there. Earlier this month she also set out our plans for Great British Food, which will celebrate the wonderful food and drink the UK has to offer.

Environmental Protection: Departmental Coordination

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's priorities are for the Clean Growth Committee; what role she will have on that committee; and whether that committee will consider her Department's air quality consultation.

Rory Stewart: The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster chairs an inter-Ministerial group on Clean Growth, which considers issues relating to air quality and decarbonisation where these have a cross-Departmental aspect. Its members include Ministers and officials from the relevant Departments, including Defra, the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Inland Waterways and Rivers: Pollution Control

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department spent on cleaning rivers and waterways in each of the last five years; and what estimate she has made of the level of such funding in each of the next five years.

Rory Stewart: Over the past five years, Defra has made significant investment to protect and improve the water environment through a number of different mechanisms. These include funds for local improvement projects, Countryside Stewardship, Catchment Sensitive Farming, Grant-in-Aid to the Environment Agency (EA), and funding for flood risk alleviation schemes which have wider co-benefits for the water environment.Defra’s funding is just one contribution. The EA estimates that around £5 billion per year is invested across the public, private and voluntary sectors just to protect our waters from deterioration in the face of challenges of population growth and climate change.Funding in future years is subject to the Government’s Spending Review.

Seas and Oceans: Environment Protection

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the cost of (a) completing the network of Marine Conservation Zones and (b) creating a blue belt around British Overseas Territories.

George Eustice: Responsibility for Marine Conservation Zones is devolved, the answer below relates to Marine Conservation Zones being established in the Secretary of State’s waters: English inshore waters (within 12 nautical miles) and the offshore waters (beyond 12 nautical miles) off England, Northern Ireland and Wales.We are designating Marine Conservation Zones in tranches; for each tranche costs are estimated in Impact Assessments accompanying their consultation and then designation. Equivalent annual costs to business for the first tranche were estimated upon their designation to be £0.5 million, with £1.7 million annual costs for the public sector. Equivalent annual costs to business for the second tranche estimated when they were consulted on were £0.18 million, with £1.924 million annual costs for the public sector, these estimates will be updated when this second tranche is designated. We have not yet estimated the costs for the third and final tranche, costs estimates will be provided when this tranche is consulted on.The Blue Belt of marine protection around the Overseas Territories will encompass a broad range of new and enhanced marine protection measures across different Territories.The British Indian Ocean Territory and South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands have already declared Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), with funded enforcement measures. For Pitcairn and Ascension Island, work is in hand to develop cost-effective monitoring and enforcement solutions for future MPAs. For the other Overseas Territories, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office is at an early stage of working with the Territories to scope what further marine protection measures are desirable and scientifically justified.Identifying any additional cost requirements to support this initiative is part of this scoping exercise.[1][1] Information provided by Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Biodiversity: Finance

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding for the 25 year plan on biodiversity; and what estimate she has made of the costs of implementing that plan.

Rory Stewart: Defra is working closely with Treasury and others on the development of the 25 year Environment Plan. A high level framework for the Plan will be published early next year and the detailed content of the plan will be developed over the course of 2016, including an estimate of implementation costs.

National Wildlife Crime Unit

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the objectives of the National Wildlife Crime Unit are beyond March 2016.

Rory Stewart: The day to day work of the National Wildlife Crime Unit is determined by the UK Wildlife Crime Tasking and Coordinating Group (led by senior government and enforcement officials). Work focuses on the UK wildlife crime priorities.The Government has committed to providing funding to help secure the National Wildlife Crime Unit until at least the end of March next year. Decisions on funding beyond March will be made as part of the current Spending Review process.

European Agricultural Guarantee Fund

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which of her Department's projects have received funding under the  European Agricultural Guarantee Fund 2007 to 2013; what the location is of each such project; and how much each such project received.

George Eustice: The European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) is known as Pillar 1 of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), composed of direct payments to farmers and market measures. In the UK, from 2007 to 2013, expenditure under the EAGF totalled €23 billion, which is around £17 billion in sterling at current exchange rates. These payments were made to eligible farmers all over the UK.Details of payments made since 2013 are available on the CAP payments website (http://cap-payments.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx). This is managed by the UK Co-ordinating Body (UKCB) on behalf of the four agricultural paying agencies in the UK.

European Maritime and Fisheries Fund

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which of her Department's projects have received funding under the  European Marine Fisheries Fund 2007 to 2013; what the location is of each such project; and how much each such project received.

George Eustice: Details of English projects which have received support under the European Fisheries Fund in the period 2007-13 are publicly available at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/448524/European_Transparency_Initiative.pdf.

Department of Health

Mesothelioma

Edward Argar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to support research into mesothelioma.

George Freeman: The Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including mesothelioma. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition. These funders together spent over £3 million on mesothelioma research in 2014/15.Following a themed call for mesothelioma research proposals, the NIHR has approved funding for two new projects (a total of about £0.5 million subject to contract) and a further two applications are currently under review.

Lung Diseases: Medical Treatments

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps NICE has taken to make the Novalung treatment available on the NHS.

George Freeman: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended in interventional procedures guidance that the use of extracorporeal membrane ventilators, like Novalung, may be considered as a treatment option for suitable patients in a number of conditions.NICE’s interventional procedures guidance is available on NICE’s website at: www.nice.org.uk/Guidance

Junior Doctors: Working Hours

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of junior doctors not rostered on at evenings and weekends as a result of the terms of the current junior doctor contract.

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the expected average frequency of evening and weekend work by junior doctors under the proposed changes to junior doctors' contracts.

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the average frequency of evening and weekend work by junior doctors in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Ben Gummer: NHS Employers’ evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration – “Reform of national contracts for consultant doctors and doctors and dentists in training”1 -  published in December 2014 during the hon. Member’s tenure as a Minister, included a profile of how the hours worked by doctors in training were spread across the week.We have evidence that hospital leaders consider the junior doctors’ contract to be a significant barrier to delivering more seven-day services. NHS Providers’ written evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration on contract reform for consultants and doctors and dentists in training2 stated that the junior doctor contract is still a significant source of barriers to seven day working and reform of the junior doctor contract is also required to support trusts to deliver more seven-day services. In particular, the pay banding system for junior doctors needs to be reviewed. There were concerns from employers that the banding system is too complicated, can create “perverse incentives” for junior doctors and hospital management, and means that providing more seven-day services is unfeasible, since more junior doctors would be working outside core hours and receive premiums under the current banding system. NHS Providers also believe that more hours in a day and more days of the week need to be defined as core hours, as the current arrangement does not support the delivery of more seven-day services or reflect the needs and expectations of today’s patients.Future working patterns are for individual employers to determine. The evidence on doctors’ working patterns has not altered since the hon. Member was a Minister for Health.1 http://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/pay-and-reward/pay/medical-pay/ddrb-evidence---in-detail/consultants-and-junior-doctors-contract-reform-submission-of-evidence-to-the-ddrb2 http://www.nhsproviders.org/resource-library/written-evidence-ddrb-special-remit/

Breast Cancer: Research

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his officials have had with the MBC Project in Boston, USA, on secondary breast cancer research.

George Freeman: Officials in the Department have had no specific discussions.The Broad Institute/Dana Faber Metastatic Breast Cancer project is one of several projects around the world that are together addressing the common goal of discovering genetic alterations within cancers, or in the inherited genes of patients who develop cancer, which will lead to improved knowledge of the disease and better treatment.

Macular Degeneration

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of people who will have age-related macular degeneration by 2050.

Alistair Burt: The Department has made no estimate of the number of people likely to have age-related macular degeneration in 2050.

Eyesight: Screening

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether assessing eye health is part of GPs' standard patient health assessment.

Alistair Burt: The Government recognises that regular sight tests are an important measure in preventing avoidable sight loss.Free National Health Service sight tests are available to many, including children, people aged 60 and over, people on benefits and those people at particular risk of developing eye disease.We do not determine what should be included in health checks or consultation between general practitioners (GPs) and their patients. This is for GPs to decide, taking into account the individual needs of patients.

Junior Doctors: Conditions of Employment

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the new junior doctors' contract on patients' safety.

Ben Gummer: The proposals are to introduce a safer, fairer contract for junior doctors that will help improve their training experience to better support patient care every day of the week.Our ambition for the National Health Service to be the safest healthcare system in the world is underpinned by reducing, not increasing, the number of hours junior doctors work each week. The new contract will include improved, legally (and contractually) enforceable safeguards - including that no junior doctor working full time will be expected to work on average more than 48 hours a week, unless they opt-out of the European Working Time Directive in which case it is maximum of an average 56 hours a week. The number of hours that can be worked in any single week by any junior will be limited to 72 (down from 91 currently) and there will be a limit of five consecutive long days or four consecutive nights.We will also bring the working hours and service delivery of junior doctors within the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection regime. Putting patients first is the responsibility of employers and staff. Juniors must feel confident that when they raise safety concerns they are listened to. Where doctors are asked to work in conditions that they believe are unsafe, including being asked to work patterns that put patient safety at risk, they will be asked to use the reporting mechanisms available to them (including alerting their line managers/clinical supervisors, reporting through the local incident reporting system which will upload to the National Reporting and Learning System) to raise the issue with both the board of their trust, and reporting data will be available for the CQC to use during inspections. We would expect trust boards to look at any such report and decide how to respond to it; and we would expect the CQC, when it carries out an inspection, to look at how the board has responded to this and other data reporting safety incidents and concerns.

Patients: Safety

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that NHS staff can report patient safety incidents quickly and efficiently.

Ben Gummer: NHS England is responsible for the National Reporting and Learning System which collates information on patient safety incidents reported by staff working in NHS funded care.There are plans to develop a new patient safety incident management system and one of the aims will be to make it quicker and easier for staff to report.

Primary Health Care

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will encourage participation by NHS organisations and local authorities in Self Care Week.

Alistair Burt: Self Care Week 2015 is managed and promoted by the Self Care Forum, an organisation which seeks to embed approaches to self care it into everyday life and to educate and empower people to manage their own health and wellbeing. The Self Care Forum has been running its annual awareness campaign since 2011. This year, Self Care Week is taking place from 16-22 November and the theme is ‘self-care for life’.The Self Care Forum has produced a range of promotional literature including posters, leaflets and a communication pack to help NHS services and other organisations raise awareness of self-care week locally. These materials are freely available from its website and can be found at the following link:www.selfcareforum.org/events/self-care-week-resources/As in previous years, NHS England has promoted Self Care Week and the ‘self-care for life’. Further information can be found at the following link:www.england.nhs.uk/2015/09/09/self-care-week/Members of the public are encouraged to find out more about local Self Care Week events through their clinical commission group or local authority.

Junior Doctors: Conditions of Employment

Jo Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the new contract with junior doctors on recruitment in the NHS.

Ben Gummer: The independent Doctors and Dentists Review Body (DDRB) made recommendations for the reform of the junior doctor contract as a basis for national level negotiations. The new contract will be introduced from August 2016 and will be included in any evidence we provide to the DDRB for the 2017/18 pay round on the recruitment, retention and motivation of junior doctors.Junior doctors are the backbone of National Health Service, but their current employment contract lets them down by failing to prevent some from working unsafe hours and not rewarding them fairly. This is why doctors deserve a new contract that will be fairer for doctors, safer for patients and juniors alike, better for training, and will better support a seven day NHS.The contract will ensure that pay relates more fairly to actual work done; increase basic pay, recognising the professional nature of the role in a seven day NHS: and pay a higher rate for work at the most unsocial times. In addition, flexible pay premia will apply for: general practitioner trainees, to maintain current earning levels; other shortage specialties who would otherwise lose out under the new pay structure; those switching to shortage specialties; clinical academic trainees and public health trainees undertaking PhDs etc; and those undertaking approved academic/other work that benefits the wider NHS and improving patient care.

NHS: Working Hours

Jo Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of a seven-day elective service in the NHS on the number of hours worked by NHS staff; and if he will publish any such assessment.

Jo Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of a seven-day elective service in the NHS on the number of NHS staff available (a) Monday to Friday and (b) on a weekend; and how he estimates staffing levels will change.

Jo Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of a seven-day elective service in the NHS on patient (a) care and (b) safety; and if he will publish any such assessment.

Ben Gummer: The Government’s current plans for ensuring the same quality of care in hospitals on all days of the week are focussed on those with urgent and emergency care needs at weekends and those who are already inpatients. It is for individual health economies to determine if they wish to provide elective care at weekends, for example if they can use more efficiently additional resources that are available to meet urgent and emergency care needs.

Viagra: Prescriptions

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been prescribed Viagra for medical purposes other than that for which it is usually prescribed in the last three years; and what those other purposes have been.

Alistair Burt: Information is not collected centrally on the number of people prescribed medicines or the medical condition being treated.

Hearing Impaired: Older People

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what advice his Department makes available on the prevention of loss of hearing amongst older people.

Alistair Burt: NHS England and the Department jointly published the Action Plan on Hearing Loss in March 2015. The action plan identifies exposure to noise and increasing age as the two major risk factors of hearing loss in working age and older adults. It includes a key objective to: improve the hearing health of all communities, improving equalities and reducing inequalities through prevention of hearing loss; ensure that diverse communities are aware of the importance of good hearing and communication; and, provide effective and up to date communication support for people living with hearing loss to ensure they realise their aspirations. Delivery of this objective will be supported by:NHS England working with partners to promote the development of care programmes to focus on people at risk, including those with dementia, depression, diabetes and cataracts.Public Health England collating existing data on incidence, prevalence and impact of hearing loss in people aged 65 and over and if possible in key groups such as people with dementia; and,The Health and Safety Executive: working with industry stakeholders to identify opportunities to improve compliance with the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005; and, reviewing the feasibility of otoacoustic emissions (OAE) testing as a leading indicator of damaging exposure to noise for workers.An oversight group with membership from government departments, arm’s length bodies and stakeholders in the hearing loss community will review and monitor progress of implementation of the Action Plan on Hearing Loss.

Hospitals: Consultants

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much each hospital trust has paid consultants in waiting list initiative payments in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt: This information is not collected centrally.

Hospitals: Consultants

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average length of clinical time spent on duty each week by a hospital consultant was in 2014-15.

Ben Gummer: This is information is not collected centrally.

Doctors: Recruitment

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking with the College of Emergency Medicine to help attract middle-grade and senior doctors to local hospitals.

Ben Gummer: Health Education England is working with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine to ensure they have a skilled, trained and motivated workforce in urgent and emergency care. This has included recruiting an additional 75 trainee emergency medicine doctors commissioned per year in 2014-2016, recruiting and appointing 29 international doctors in 2015 and supporting development of the multi-professional workforce.National Health Service organisations are best placed to determine the size and skill mix of the workforce they need to deliver safe care and how, through local campaigns, they attract middle-grade and senior doctors to local hospitals.

NHS: Research

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the current status is of the draft NHS Research and Development Strategy which was consulted on last year; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: The consultation for the NHS England Research and Development Strategy closed in December 2013. The findings have been used to inform development of the NHS England Research Plan for 2015/16 which has been agreed with the Department.

Osteoporosis: Drugs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will discuss with the Royal Colleges the potential side effects of osteoporosis drugs on (a) jaw and (b) general bone health.

George Freeman: As with all medicines, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Government’s independent expert advisory body the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) keep the safety of osteoporosis drugs under continual review including their effects on the jaw and on bone health. The MHRA, together with the CHM, ensures that the product information for osteoporosis medicines contains up to date information and issues updated advice as appropriate.Warnings about the risks of osteonecrosis of the jaw (severe bone damage in the jaw) and atypical fractures of the femur (unusual fracture of the thigh bone) are included in the product information (Summary of Product Characteristics for healthcare professionals and Patient Information Leaflet for patients) for all medicines containing bisphosphonates or denosumab which are used in the treatment of osteoporosis. New information and advice on these risks have been communicated to healthcare professionals in the MHRAsafety bulletin in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2014 as new information has become available. A patient reminder card on the risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw is currently being introduced for patients treated with denosumab and bisphosphonates given by injection and healthcare professionals have been informed of this new measure via the MHRA bulletin.Information about the recognised risks of osteonecrosis of the jaw and atypical fractures of the femur with bisphosphonates and denosumab is also included in the 2014 ‘Osteoporosis - Clinical Guideline for prevention and treatment’ developed by the National Osteoporosis Guideline Group which includes the Royal College of Physicians.

Food: Crime

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the recording of food crime as an identifiable category of crime in police databases.

Jane Ellison: I regularly attend the Inter Ministerial Group on food crime, which includes representation from the Home Office.

Influenza: Vaccination

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have received the influenza vaccination at (a) a hospital, (b) a GP surgery, (c) a pharmacy, (d) a supermarket and (e) another facility in 2015.

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimates his Department have made of the proportion of the total number of influenza vaccinations administered by private providers in 2015.

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many influenza vaccinations (a) have been and (b) he expects to be administered for this winter.

Jane Ellison: Immunisation to protect those most vulnerable to the effects of influenza this winter commenced in September 2015. The first comprehensive monthly report on vaccine uptake and numbers of people vaccinated showing the position at the end of October is due to be published on 26 November at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake-figuresSome provisional weekly uptake data reported from about half of participating general practitioners (GP) practices in England are available. From this, we estimate the total number of patients who have been vaccinated so far this season up to 8 November in those aged six months to under 65 years with a clinical condition and those aged 65 and over is about 8.9 million in England.Further breakdown on vaccinations given by health-care setting, such as in pharmacy, schools or in other settings, is being collected for the first time this season through this GP based surveillance system. It is hoped that this information will be published at the end of season in 2016.The above information does not include influenza vaccinations provided outside the national influenza immunisation programme, for example to healthy adults. It is not possible to predict how many people will be vaccinated against influenza this winter.Information on the number of influenza vaccinations administered by private providers is not collected centrally. The national influenza immunisation programme is designed to protect those most vulnerable to the effects of influenza. The largest proportion of vaccinations is administered at general practices, with pharmacies and schools also playing an important role.Immunisation against influenza is also available privately to those not recommended for vaccination under the National Health Service programme. Immunisation typically takes place at retail pharmacies and is solely delivered by private providers.

Disability: Children

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many one-stop shops of medical experts for the assessment of children with disabilities are in place; and where those one-stop shops are located.

Jane Ellison: We are not aware of any one-stop shops for the clinical assessment of children with disabilities. Every local authority will have a published local offer of services for children and young people with disabilities, but these are information hubs, rather than clinical services.

Cancer

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, in what way his Department will hold clinical commissioning groups responsible for making improvements along the cancer pathway including (a) early diagnosis and (b) supporting people beyond treatment.

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how cancer indicators for clinical commissioning groups ratings will be established and employed.

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what system of accountability NHS England will establish for clinical commissioning groups' work on improving one year cancer survival rates from June 2016.

Jane Ellison: NHS England is committed to reworking the clinical commission group (CCG) assurance framework for 2016-17 to reflect the triple aim of closing the gap on health inequalities, improving the quality of care and achieving financial sustainability, in addition to the themes of the Five Year Forward View: prevention; patient and community engagement; clinical priorities; and development of new care models.Cancer has been identified as one of these clinical priorities, and metrics will be selected which reflect the strategic priorities laid out by the independent Cancer Taskforce, including early diagnosis and supporting people to live well, with, and, beyond cancer.The assessment framework brings together the assurance framework and key metrics, and will incorporate future transformation as well as current performance. It will drive improvement rather than just assure and assess.CCGs will receive an overall annual rating and, within the framework, will be rated for six clinical priorities of: cancer, dementia, diabetes, mental health, maternity, and learning difficulties.CCGs will be rated on the same four point scale used by the Care Quality Commission: outstanding, good, requires improvement, or inadequate. The ratings for the clinical priority areas will be made by independent expert committees.The metrics are currently in development and NHS England expects to publish a set for consultation in December 2015, at around the same time as the planning guidance, with a final version in March 2016. The assessment framework will come in to operational effect from 1 April 2016 and initial ratings in the six clinical priority areas will be published in June 2016.

Abortion: Clinics

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will issue a response to Early Day Motion (a) 162, Closures of abortion clinics and (b) 172, Buffer zones around abortion centres.

Jane Ellison: These matters are dealt with by the Home Office.

Home Care Services: Standards

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce variations in the quality of at-home care given by carers' agencies across the UK.

Alistair Burt: The Government is committed to improving the quality of adult social care. We have taken a number of recent steps to do so.In October 2014, we introduced a tougher inspection system by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Following inspections, CQC now also awards each service a single quality rating, with providers rated as “Outstanding”, “Good”, “Requires Improvement” or “Inadequate”. Services rated “Inadequate” are being placed into Special Measures. They will have access to a range of resources to help them to improve, but if they fail to do so, they could face closure.These new ratings and other information about the type and quality of care at every care home and homecare service in the country are now available on NHS Choices and the MyNHS Transparency website, making it much easier for people to compare the quality of services.This year we introduced a Certificate of Fundamental Care, now known as the Care Certificate. This will help ensure that care workers can deliver a consistently high quality standard of care.The Department is funding and working with a number of organisations including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Skills for Care, the Social Care Institute for Excellence, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association on a range of projects to help adult social care organisations and staff improve the quality of care. These resources include new NICE Quality Standards and Guidelines which bring clarity to what excellence looks like in care and Commissioning for Better Outcomes – A Route Map* that sets out a series of commissioning standards that willbe used as part of local government sector-led improvement to drive best practices in local authority commissioning under their new duties in the Care Act 2015.*Available at http://www.local.gov.uk/documents/10180/5756320/Commissioning+for+Better+Outcomes+A+route+map/8f18c36f-805c-4d5e-b1f5-d3755394cfab

Women and Equalities

Pregnant Women: Employment

Stuart McDonald: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with civil society organisations on the findings of the research study into pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace, Pregnancy and Maternity-Related Discrimination and Disadvantage - First Findings: Surveys of Employers and Mothers, published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in partnership with the Department for Business, Innovations and Skills on 24 July 2015.

Caroline Dinenage: Pregnancy and maternity discrimination is unlawful and completely unacceptable. The government and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission are working together on the largest independent research project of its kind in Great Britain to better understand the problem.Figures from the interim report show the vast majority of employers believe it is important to support pregnant women and women on maternity leave. The final report will be published in due course, and will inform the next steps this government will take to ensure employers and mothers are aware of, and act on, their legal obligations and rights.